Chapter 15: Citadel Ghirlandaio (Pt.2)
Also known as "Siege of Ghirlandaio" this is the Fifteenth Chapter in Valkyria Chronicles. Selvaria Bles | vehicles = Heavy Gatling x 3 Medium Imperial Tank x 1 Heavy Imperial Tank x 2 Imperial Tank Destroyer x 2 | officers = Sniper Leader x 3 | aces = None|ace drop = None}} Story When Squad 7 made their way past the main gates of Ghirlandaio. they were greeted by Selvaria armed with only a gun, Selvaria was noticeably lacking the blue glow of a Valkyria. As Squad 7 looked up at her from below. Selvaria issued a challenge to Alicia, not as a Valkyria but as a human being. It seemed quite clear that Selvaria was hoping to find some answers through their encounter. Topography This is another extensive map layout where the Gallian forces start in a terrible position being flanked by the Imperials on all sides. The map can essentially be split into 4 sections: the ground level, East path, West path, and the North wall. On the ground level, the Gallian forces have positioned their main encampment behind a small pile of rubble and a few sandbags. This is not an entirely safe area, as because of their elevation advantage, Selvaria and her troops can reposition themselves and attack around the rubble stack. On the ground floor is a series of small freight warehouses that surround the remaining railway before it ends at the North wall. There are deactivated elevators on both the East and West sides, which must be activated by climbing the stairways on the East and West paths and pressing the switch at the top of the elevators. The East and West paths are similar in structure with slight variations in sandbag locations and defensive structuring. Both paths also have locked off doors located next to the stairways, which can only be unlocked from the other side. Opening these doors allows for a much faster path to the North wall. Until those doors are opened, you will have to make a long detour around the armored observation towers before being able to reach the North wall. Both East and West paths also have enemy camps which are located in lowered areas, slightly out of view from the North wall (but not completely). The North wall is where Selvaria stays for the duration of the battle, sniping at the Gallian troops from the wall guardrails as they make their way to her position. There are slight variations in troop positions on the East and West sides of the North wall, but are essentially the same in terms of possessing various sandbag emplacements, boxes, and warehouses. At the center of the North wall is the final enemy camp which is surrounded by a number of sandbags. There are four ramps which lead to the highest edge of the wall which is where Selvaria will often make her stand as the Gallian forces close in. Landmarks and Street Names *Freight Station *West Armored Observation Tower *East Armored Observation Tower Here are details on the current operation "Here are details on the current operation." "The way is open. It's time to enter the citadel and break the enemy's hold upon it. We've confirmed that their forces are being commanded by Selvaria Bles. She was the Valkyria our forces faced on the fields of Naggiar. Take the utmost care when dealing with her." "You objective is her defeat. Take down the Valkyria. She should be stationed on the terrace atop the citadel. Better still, you'll be surrounded on three sides to begin. Break through to the lifts and stairs located on either side of the entry point, climb to the top and take her out. She may lack the lance and shield but she's still a threat. Don't forget you're dealing with a Valkyria here." "It's quite likely she'll evade any head-on attacks. Your challenge will be to sneak around to her rear, where she'll be unable to dodge what you throw at her." Mission objectives Victory *Selvaria is defeated Failure *Welkin dies *The enemy occupies Gallia's base camp *All ally soldiers and reserves are killed *20 turns pass "We've prepared to commence the operation. I look forward to good news from you." Strategy *Before the mission starts ensure that you have visited the Headquarters and spent the Exp and Ducats earned in the previous mission and equip your troops and armoured vehicles with the latest weapons and upgrades. *Instead of her Valkyrur lance and shield, Selvaria possesses her trademark machine gun, the Ruhm. It combines the accuracy of a sniper rifle with the power and rate of fire of a machine gun, making it extremely easy for her to kill units from across the entire map in a single volley or even by just the interception fire alone. Be extremely careful about leaving units out in clear view of Selvaria throughout the entire battle. *The battle can essentially be split into a couple different phases. The first phase can be seen as the portion where Selvaria will try to stay at the guardrail of the North wall, move back and forth to both sides, and target down your troops as they try to take the East and West paths. The second phase occurs as your troops begin to encroach the East/West paths, and Selvaria will retreat to the northern-most section of the map. She will not move around as much unless she spots an opportunity to take out a unit that is left out in the open. The final phase begins as you start entering the North wall area, where she will begin actively moving to the east and west sides of the North wall and continue trying to kill any units she finds. *A large portion of this battle will need to be handled by your Scouts as there is a lot of ground to cover. For the most part, Largo and Rosie should be able to handle the tanks and units on the ground floor. You will need a few Scouts each to move up both the ramps to start your attack on the East and West paths, as well as activate the elevators and take over the first enemy camps. *Your first priority at the beginning of each turn is to prevent Selvaria from being able to mow down your forces with her interception fire. Use the Edelweiss' smoke screen round by moving towards Selvaria (as she stands at the guardrail) and firing it so that it mostly blocks her view. This should prevent most of her interception fire and force her to have to move out of the smoke screen during her turn. *Be sure not to ignore the enemy tanks on the ground floor, as they will relentlessly fire on your tanks as you are busy trying to activate the elevators. Have your lancer(s) move between the freight warehouses to dodge as much tank interception fire as possible and circle around until you can take easy shots at their radiators. *Carefully make your way towards the elevators, as a large number of troops and/or Gatling turrets occupy the East and West paths. Once the elevators have been activated, you can move your tanks from the ground level up and begin moving on towards the North wall. *As you circle around the bottom edges of the East and West paths, be careful of the anti-tank and anti-personnel land mines which might be hidden either around corners or underneath destructible objects. *The approach towards Selvaria's position is fairly straightforward: just keep your units out of sight (from both Selvaria and the snipers) at the end of each turn and continue to push forward with your tanks and Scouts until you take over the second East and West enemy camps. *Once you have taken the second East/West camps, you can use these to call in reinforcements. Depending on what your current battle situation, you might want to call in Engineers if your tanks are damaged, Lancers if you need to get rid of the enemy Tank Destroyer at the North wall, Shocktroopers if you need assistance neutralizing the North wall enemy camp, or even Snipers if you want to begin sniping Selvaria (once in correct position). *Though the mission briefing suggests taking both paths, it is possible to win by just taking one path. Doing so will concentrate forces and possible save Command Points. The disadvantage of this strategy is not being able to flank Selvaria but it is possible to bypass this using the Alicia strategy below. *''Defeating Selvaria'' **There are a number of different ways of defeating Selvaria. Some require more CP/time or different units, but the end result is that you should be forcing Selvaria into being flanked from both sides. **If Selvaria is looking at your unit as they are firing at her, she will almost always dodge the shot and return fire (resulting in a very dead unit). Note that she has a field of view similar to that of a Scout, so you will want to make sure you are directly behind her to stay out of her sight range. If Selvaria is shot at, she will turn to face that unit, which allows your other units to move in position from behind. **An AI behavior that can be exploited is that if Selvaria is hit by interception fire, she will stop her movement immediately and attempt to return fire (if the unit is in view), since this is what the "high level" AI for normal troops does (low-level will try to tank its way through interception fire). This can be used to force Selvaria into an unmovable situation. **Setups ***Position the Shamrock and Edelweiss on opposite sides of Selvaria and push towards her until she is unable to move due to the tanks' inter-crossing interception fire. Use the machine guns on the tanks to shoot at the back of her head until defeated. ***Position snipers at opposite sides of Selvaria, alternating shots so she turns each time. This does massive damage for each shot, but be careful as snipers usually do not have much life and have the potential of running out of ammunition (assuming they miss too many times). ***Once you have deployed the smokescreen around Selvaria, use a Shocktrooper with the "Undodgeable Shot" skill (such as Rosie) and fire from up close, behind her, to the head.This will kill her in one volley. ***Flamethrowers, as used by either a Shocktrooper or Shamrock do deal quite a bit of damage to Selvaria, although it is comparably ineffective for Shamrock, as compared to the cannon rounds. If done by a shocktrooper, it must be the killing stroke, as Selvaria will promptly turn around a massacre the soldier with a volley from Ruhm. A high-evasion Shocktrooper, or one with the Neutralize potential, such as Alex or Aisha, may mitigate this threat, though they will face interception fire once control is returned to you. ***Potential "Undodgeable Shot" activated, able to fire from front? If true, potentially able to end level by "sniping" Selvaria from ground level with Scout. Has been tested to work with Alicia. ***The "Sniper Support" order cannot target a Boss character such as Selvaria. ***Order "Attack Weak Spot," shoot body area? (Untested)still dodge and take minimum dmg. *** It is in fact possible to snipe Selvaria with the Edelweiss from the mission start using AP shells, though this requires most accuracy upgrades, maximizing command points and possibly saving and loading to hit with every shot. **** Selvaria will never dodge AP shells. **** A headshot can inflict well over 70-80% damage. **** Don't forget to use Aim and Attack Boost Orders on the Edelweiss. *** Smoke does not render correctly in the uncolored border areas of the screen, and this can be exploited to find Selvaria, as her outline will be visible here. *** It is possible to kill her in one turn with just Alicia (once Alicia gets close enough). Use the orders Neutralize, Awaken Potential and Attack Boost on her. With her Resist Crossfire potential, she will be safe from interception fire. Neutralize will prevent counter attacks, keeping her safe even when firing from point blank. The Undodgeable shot potential will need to be activated to hit her though. Aim for headshots and she will go down in 1 or 2 volleys. Mysterious body will also keep Alicia safe. * Turn 1 Win: Elite Scouts with their Double Movement potential (unlocked at Scout 16), an Imperial high-damage rifle, and buffed with Activate Potential or Awaken All (learned from the Aged Gentleman) and Penetrate (unlocked at Sniper 15) can potentially kill Selvaria from behind on Turn 1 with one attack, if Double Movement activates at least once (preferably twice) during their route and there is sufficient smoke cover on Selvaria to prevent her from noticing the scout. ** Alicia is THE ideal candidate because of her Resist Crossfire potential further bolstering her defense (this gives the same bonus as Caution and will not stack), and Valkyria stacking damage on top of Penetrate. Aika has similar abilities, except for the Valkyria damage boost. *** If Valkyria has not activated before reaching Selvaria, standing in front of a Gatling or Tank's machinegun to drop her HP below 50% should be enough to trigger it, but the Valkyria potential can be deactivated if Alicia performs an action and recovers her health over 50% (whether through Ragnaid or the Mysterious Body potential). There is a Tank Destroyer behind Selvaria's position that can do this for you if you stand next to the base flag. *** Alicia can also unlock both shortcuts on her route, thus paving the way for a second Scout like Juno or Cherry (who possess Skilled Assassin) to reach Selvaria, particularly if Awaken All was used. *** Alicia must be equipped with a ZM Kar 3(g) or ZM Kar 4(g) in order to kill Selvaria in a single attack with all critical hits. This includes the bonus from Penetrate and Valkyria. Gallian rifles (either high-attack A-models or the Royal R-models) will lack sufficient attack power, even if Penetrate, Valkyria and Attack Boost are active; the ZM Kar 3(g) has an attack rating of 43, in comparison. ** Even if insufficient damage is inflicted, Selvaria's back is now turned to the rest of the squad and is thus vulnerable to snipers and tank shells. Marina should be able to finish the job if she has her final Potential unlocked (Ultimate Accuracy, Level 16). *** Note that this potential makes Imperial sniper rifle builds viable as it permanently negates their accuracy penalty. *** If excessive smoke is blocking your shot, a Lancer round will clear it up. You should have Largo on the squad anyways due to the CP leader bonus. * Alternate Turn 1 win: Use Marina with Ultimate Accuracy (GSR-10R was equiped, when discovered, but did not look like it mattered). Position her on the top left or right starting position. The top left has smoke making it hard to aim, but the top right has an Trooper Elite that you will need to take out first. For three turns fire at Selvaria's head, but when firing, DO NOT zoom in, as long as you are shooting without zooming in, Selvaria will NOT dodge, but if you do zoom in, she will dodge. You can zoom in find the center of her head easier, but make sure you then fully zoom out when taking the shot. As long as you immediately enter targeting mode and immediately end the action after firing, Selvaria should only get one volley in per turn (note: she does not counter), and Marina will survive to headshot Selvaria three times and kill her. * Alt. Alt. Turn 1 win: If you have the Ruhm from Selvaria's Mission: Behind Her Blue Flame DLC, you can turn it into an honorable Ruhm duel. Though your Shocktrooper is crouching and Selvaria can be headshot, so it isn't so honorable (BUT Selvaria has a ShockTrooper Elite helping so that still makes it honorable, right?). Just put a Shocktrooper with the Ruhm on the top right starting position (and Alicia, Largo, and Rosie wherever), give him/her attack and acc. boost orders, then just use ALL your CP on that one Shocktrooper (they're not moving anywhere). It should be noted that only headshots deal any noticable damage at that distance. * Easiest Turn 1 win: Win in two moves by equipping the Shamrock with the anti-infantry Link Belt turret before the mission starts. Then simply move the Shamrock straight forward and fire up at Selvaria twice to end the mission. Rewards Aftermath Acknowledging her defeat, Selvaria surrendered quite peacefully. Perhaps hoping to find answers of her own, Alicia asked Selvaria why she had decided to use her Valkyria's Power in the first place, but Selvaria could tell that their positions were far too different to allow for any common ground or understanding. Damon arrived to personally escort Selvaria out of Ghirlandaio, and had his men beat her mercilessly into submission. As she was taken away by Damon and his men, Selvaria asked the militia to escort her troops out of Ghirlandaio. Later that day, when Damon was taking a moment to sit in the commander's seat, quite pleased with himself, Selvaria began to glow with Valkyria's Power. Quite certain that the militia and her men were a safe distance away from Ghirlandaio, Selvaria unleashed the Final Flame of the Valkyria. The radiant light engulfed all of Ghirlandaio, and everyone within it, including Damon. On their way back to the capitol, Squad 7 bore witness to the final moments of Ghirlandaio. Sensing that Selvaria was responsible for the light that had consumed Ghirlandaio, Alicia understood that Selvaria had found her "answer." However, before Squad 7 had a chance to get over the shock of what had happened at the fortress, they received a new report that a large, unidentified weapon had emerged from Kloden Forest, and was rapidly closing in on Randgriz. Notes/Trivia Category:Valkyria Chronicles Category:Valkyria Chronicles Missions